The fact that many retailers and wholesalers have turned Black Friday into a Black Week has become normal over the past few years. Consumers can therefore save on all sorts of purchases and errands in the coming days – if they pay attention to a few things.
From underwear to technology to vacation travel: There is hardly an industry that does not attract with discounts and special offers in November. The technology markets Media Markt, Saturn or online retailers Notebooksbilliger, for example, offer significantly lower prices every day until the actual Black Friday on November 25th. From smartphones to televisions to household appliances, customers can make lucrative deals there from Monday.
This also applies to the shipping giant Amazon and the German shipping chain Otto, which are also not stingy with discounts during Black Week. The range of price reductions is as large as the product range. From clothing to technology to furnishings: discounts of more than 50 percent are not uncommon for all these providers in the next few days.
The same applies to clothing, fashion and sporting goods, for example from Adidas, Nike and Puma. The “Big Three” of sporting goods manufacturers are already offering parts of their range at significantly reduced prices from Monday. But women’s underwear from Hunkemöller or fashion from Hugo Boss, Zizzi, Tom Taylor, Breuninger or Converse are also available at significantly lower prices in the week leading up to Black Friday.
Another industry where deals can be worthwhile during Black Week is vacation travel. From all-inclusive trips to individual holidays to on-site rental cars, providers such as HolidayCheck, weg.de or TUI are tempting with lower prices, some even throughout November.
Despite all the bargain hunter euphoria, consumers should not just blindly buy, but look at the prices carefully. The dealers’ methods are not always very clean: on the one hand, they calculate the discounts based on the non-binding recommended prices, which in practice are often undercut anyway. On the other hand, some retailers increase their prices on certain products in October, only to be able to offer supposedly colossal discounts in November.
Consumers should therefore use price comparison portals, such as Check24 or Idealo, to make sure that they are dealing with a real bargain. There you can see the price development of the last few weeks and differentiate between different product categories. In addition, one should not be unsettled by timers, which create the feeling of scarcity and are intended to encourage those who are willing to buy to make a faster decision. As a rule, the same offers are still available at the same price during the discount campaigns, advises the consumer advice center.
A special feature in 2022 is the strong inflation. It does not cover all products equally, which is why it is worth taking a closer look: According to an analysis by Check24, the prices in all categories have risen by around eight percent compared to 2021, but in the case of certain electronic items such as tablets, fitness trackers or gaming headsets significant price declines of up to 25 percent can be observed – without the Black Week discounts. A look at this product category is therefore particularly worthwhile for many providers this week.
